Having been described as ‘not a museum, gallery, library nor research centre, but an open space for open minds that nurtures and promotes creativity in the arts, sciences and philosophy’, the gallery was founded by artist/sculptor Jun Kaneko and designed by Los Angeles architect Mark Mack. It links three warehouses via a glass and steel atrium, creating a light and airy environment that is conducive to the arts. It hosts programmes, performances, exhibits and presentations, ranging from artists’ exhibitions and lectures to music and dance.
Most recently, a former truck garage has been converted into the Bow Truss Room, providing a flexible 92,000-sq-ft space with concrete floor and walls and a high, curved ceiling. It’s acoustically live with more than enough reflective surfaces to make intelligibility an issue.
The hall’s audio system and treatment was designed by Chicago-based Threshold Acoustics, who specified four Renkus-Heinz PN82 self-powered two-way loudspeakers to cover the space. The system was installed and commissioned by Direct Pro Audio of Omaha. ‘The room is exceptionally challenging, acoustically, with lots of hard, reflective surfaces,’ admits Direct Pro Audio’s John Manhart who, along with DPA’s Dan Allen, performed the installation. ‘The PN82’s tight focus contributed to the overall even distribution of sound, and the built-in amplification and Rhaon processing let us precisely tune the system to meet the challenging requirements of this room.
‘The Renkus-Heinz speaker voicing sounds amazing, and there is plenty of headroom and clarity in the system,’ he adds.
More: www.renkus-heinz.com
